Sources for Farleigh Hungerford Castle
The following lists provide a summary of the main sources for our knowledge and understanding of Farleigh Hungerford Castle.
Unpublished Primary Sources
British Library
- Lansdowne MS 901, fol 52 [notes and sketch plan of the castle, made by Peter Le Neve in Nov 1701].
Lambeth Palace Library, London
- register of Archbishop Arundel, vol 2, fol 152 [manuscript will of Lady Joan, widow of Sir Thomas Hungerford I, including details of castle and chapel contents]
- register of Archbishop Stafford, fol 114ff. [manuscript will of Walter, 1st Lord Hungerford, including details of the contents and furnishing of the castle in 1449].
The National Archives
- C66/316 (m.6), Chancery Patent Rolls [retrospective pardon to Sir Thomas Hungerford, 26 November 1383, for 'fortifying with a wall of stone and lime ... crenellating, making towers, enclosing with a ditch and making a fortified site' of the house of his manor at Farleigh].
Somerset Studies Library, Taunton
- Revd JE Jackson's own copy of the published A Guide to Farleigh Hungerford (Chippenham, 1879), ref no. 0629326 [including additional manuscript notes written by Jackson in the margins].
Wiltshire Museum, Devizes
- folio volume of manuscript notes, drawings, paintings and early 'calotype' photographs of the castle, compiled by the Revd JE Jackson from his own researches and quotations from other sources [includes material not included in his published guidebooks].
Published Primary Sources
Colt Hoare, R, Hungerfordiana: or Memoirs of the Family of Hungerford (Shaftesbury, 1823; facsimile reprint, 1981)
Jackson, JE, A Guide to Farleigh Hungerford (Chippenham, 1879) [the last and most complete published version of Jackson's guidebooks to the castle, with appendices of documents, including some otherwise unrecorded material concerning the castle and its owners before and after the early 18th century]
Kirby, JL (ed), The Hungerford Cartulary: A Calendar of the Earl of Radnor's Cartulary of the Hungerford Family, Wiltshire Record Society, 49 (1994)
Toulmin Smith, L (ed), The Itinerary of John Leland in or about the Years 1535–1543, vol 1 (London, 1907), 137–9 [brief description of the castle, c 1540, and traditions about its financing by ransoms of French prisoners; accessed 12 March 2014]
Vicars, J, The Burning Bush not Consumed (London, 1646), 286 [surrender of the castle to Parliament, Oct 1645]
Weaver, FW (ed), Somerset Medieval Wills I, Somerset Record Series 16 (1901) [will of Robert, 2nd Lord Hungerford, including many details of the furnishing of the castle in 1459]
Material Sources
Priests’ House, Farleigh Hungerford Castle
The collections displayed on site are from excavations in 1962–8, associated with work on the priests' house, and 1973–6. They comprise architectural stonework, medieval and post-medieval ceramics, and domestic objects including keys, spoons and tobacco pipes.
Of particular interest is a fragment of a pyx depicting the Virgin Mary, excavated from the castle ditch, and found there with other 'Catholic' objects. The presumption is that Puritans disposed of them.
St Leonard’s Church, Farleigh Hungerford
Some fragments of medieval and later stained glass in the parish church of St Leonard, Farleigh Hungerford, including a coat of arms of Sir Edward Hungerford I and pieces with the Hungerford armorial badge with a sickle, were said by the Revd JE Jackson in the 19th century to have come from windows in the castle (see History of Farleigh Hungerford Castle).
When the castle was demolished in the 1730s, these fragments were taken to various cottages in the area, but they were transferred to the church in the 19th century.
The worn but still legible dedication stone of the earliest church at the castle – perhaps dating from the 13th century and probably demolished when Sir Thomas Hungerford began building the castle before 1383 – is now set above the door of the entrance porch of St Leonard's Church.
Farleigh House, Farleigh Hungerford
An early 17th-century chimneypiece at nearby Farleigh House (in private ownership), rebuilt by the Houlton family in the 1730s and later altered, may have come from the castle. Other cottages and farmhouses in the parish also contain carved stones taken from the castle.
Fort Brockhurst, Hampshire
The English Heritage reserve collection of finds from excavations at Farleigh Hungerford Castle is similar to the collection displayed on site and consists of stonework, ceramics, painted wall plaster, human remains and, notably, a range of small metal finds. There are also some paper archives, mainly from recent watching briefs.
Visual Sources
he visual sources for Farleigh Hungerford Castle, especially after about 1730, are exceptionally numerous and well documented.
These later visual sources are described, fully referenced and mostly reproduced in Hughes, P, 'Farleigh Hungerford Castle: visual evidence, 1700–2000', unpublished report (English Heritage, 2001).
The most important (in chronological order) are:
- sketch showing the castle in the background, c 1650–70, Bodleian Library, MS Aubrey, fol 187 [the only known representation of the castle before its sale and subsequent demolition]
- P Le Neve, annotated sketch plan, Nov 1701, British Library, Lansdowne MS 901, fol 52 [reproduced in the English Heritage guidebook, 9; buy the guidebook]
- watercolour of the castle from the south-east, c 1733, British Library, Add MS 18674 [shows much of the inner court still intact, including substantial remains of the north-east and north-west towers, and conical roofs still surviving on the south-east and south-west towers; reproduced in the English Heritage guidebook, 28]
- S and N Buck, engraving of the castle from the north-east, 1733 [see above; showing the castle's marked deterioration since the production of the c 1733 watercolour listed above]
- S Hooper, engraving of the chapel with the north-east and south-east towers in the background, c 1774, in F Grose, The Antiquities of England and Wales, vol 5 (1786) [one of the few images showing the north-east tower; accessed 15 July 2014]
- Revd John Skinner, coloured drawing of the castle, 1811, in Skinner, 'Sketches in Hampshire and Isle of Wight', British Library, Add MS 73492, 4
- Revd John Skinner, sketches and maps of the castle and nearby buildings, including St Leonard's Church and Farleigh House, c 1820, Skinner notebooks, vol 29, British Library, Add MS 33656, fols 193–4, 216–39
- Revd John Skinner, coloured drawings and plans of the pavement at Farleigh Hungerford Castle, 1822, Skinner, 'Journal of parochial affairs etc', British Library, Add MS 33673, fols 154–9
- WW Wheatley, drawing of the chapel before restoration, 1842, Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society [reproduced in the English Heritage guidebook, 14]
- early calotypes of the ruins including the east gatehouse, south-west tower and south-east tower, c 1853–61, Historic England Archive (BB99/06756)
- photograph of the south-west tower with visitors, c 1860, Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society [reproduced in the English Heritage guidebook, 31]
- photographs of the ruins before, during and after restoration, 1914–c 1925, and of the excavations, 1924–30, Historic England Archive (AL0664).
The copious visual sources for the chapel are described, fully referenced and reproduced in Hughes, P, 'The chapel at Farleigh Hungerford Castle: building and repair, 1363–2003', unpublished English Heritage report (2003).
These include the watercolours of the chapel interior and crypt produced by Thomas Trotter in about 1800 (private collection), which are reproduced in colour (together with other visual sources for the chapel) in:
- Moffett, C, and Hewlings, R, 'The anthropoid coffins at Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Somerset', English Heritage Historical Review, 4 (2009), 54–71 [subscription required; accessed 2 July 2014].
Line drawings of objects and heraldry connected with the castle and with the Hungerford family form an appendix to JE Jackson, A Guide to Farleigh Hungerford (Chippenham, 1879).
More details of items in the Historic England Archive can be found in the online catalogue. Some material is not yet listed in the online catalogue, including a large collection of aerial photography; for a full search, please contact the search team.
Copies of images and documents can be ordered through the website or by contacting the archive. For details of current charges for these services see the archive's price list.
Published Secondary Sources
Biographies of the Hungerford Family
References to both published and unpublished primary written sources are appended to the biographies of the following members (in chronological order) of the Hungerford family in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004) [subscription required; accessed 12 March 2014]
- Sir Thomas Hungerford (b. in or before 1328, d.1397)
- Walter, 1st Baron Hungerford (1378–1449)
- Robert, 2nd Baron Hungerford (c 1400–1459)
- Robert, 3rd Baron Hungerford and Baron Moleyns (c 1423–1464)
- Sir Walter Hungerford (b. in or after 1441, d.1516)
- Agnes Hungerford, Lady Hungerford (d.1523)
- Walter Hungerford, Baron Hungerford of Heytesbury (1503–40)
- Sir Walter Hungerford (d.1595x7)
- Sir Edward Hungerford (1596–1648)
- Anthony Hungerford (1607/8–1657)
- Sir Edward Hungerford (1632–1711).
More detailed references to published and unpublished primary written sources for the primary castle-builders, Sir Thomas Hungerford and Walter, 1st Lord Hungerford, are given in:
Kightly, C, 'Hungerford, Sir Thomas' and 'Hungerford, Sir Walter', in The History of Parliament: The House of Commons, 1386–1421, ed JS Roskell, L Clark and C Rawcliffe, (Stroud, 1993), vol 3, 443–6 and 446–53 [accessed 14 July 2014].
Other Published Sources
Brown, S, Sumptuous and Richly Adorn'd: The Decoration of Salisbury Cathedral (London, 1999) [describes the lost 15th-century Hungerford chantry chapel at Salisbury Cathedral (built c 1470, demolished 1790) and its wall-paintings and monuments, with illustrations made in 1789; and the surviving effigial monument of Robert, 2nd Lord Hungerford]
Cockayne, GE, Doubleday, HA, Warrand, D and Lord Howard de Walden, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, vol 6 (London, 1929), 613–27 [heavily footnoted biographies of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Lords Hungerford and of Sir Walter Hungerford III, Lord Hungerford of Heytesbury]
Eeles, FC, 'Ancient stained glass at Farleigh Hungerford', Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, 80 (1935 for 1934), 57–62
Farleigh Hungerford Castle (English Heritage guidebook, London, 1986)
Hardy, WJ, 'Lady Agnes Hungerford', The Antiquary, new series, 2 (Dec 1880), 233–6 [the best of a series of articles about the wife of Sir Edward Hungerford I, executed for murdering her first husband and burning his body in the castle kitchen furnace; accessed 18 April 2014]
Hardy, WJ, 'Lord Hungerford of Heytesbury, part I' and 'part II', The Antiquary, new series, 4 (Aug 1881), 49–51, 111–15 [part 2 includes the full text of Lady Elizabeth Hungerford's letter of complaint to Thomas Cromwell about her imprisonment; accessed 18 April 2014]
Hardy, WJ, 'Sir Walter Hungerford of Farley', The Antiquary, new series, 4 (Aug 1881), 238–43 [Sir Walter Hungerford IV and his marital problems; accessed 18 April 2014]
Horne, E, 'The falconry, Farleigh Hungerford', Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, 87 (1942 for 1941), 106–7 [the 14th- or 15th-century falconry at Lodge Farm, Farleigh Hungerford, which bears the Hungerford arms and badge]
Howard, H, Manning, T and Stewart, S, 'Late medieval wall painting techniques at Farleigh Hungerford Castle and their context', in Painting Techniques: History, Materials and Studio Practice, ed A Roy and P Smith (London, 1998)
Kightly, C, Strongholds of the Realm (London, 1979), 134–5, 144–9
Kightly, C, Farleigh Hungerford Castle (English Heritage guidebook, London, 2006; revised edn 2012) [buy the guidebook]
Litten, J, 'The anthropoid coffin in England', English Heritage Historical Review, 4 (2009), 72–83 [context of the Farleigh Hungerford coffins] [subscription required; accessed 2 July 2014]
Miles, TJ, Saunders, AD and Musty, JWG, 'The chantry house at Farleigh Hungerford Castle', Medieval Archaeology, 19 (1975), 165–94 [accessed 12 March 2014]
Moffett, C and Hewlings, R, 'The anthropoid coffins at Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Somerset', English Heritage Historical Review, 4 (2009), 54–71 [subscription required; accessed 2 July 2014]
Wilcox, R, 'Excavations at Farleigh Hungerford, 1973–6', Somerset Archaeology and Natural History, 124 (1981 for 1980), 87–109
Wroughton, J, A Community at War: The Civil War in Bath and North Somerset (Bath, 1992) [Sir Edward Hungerford IV and the castle during the Civil War]
Unpublished Secondary Sources
English Heritage Reports
Some of these reports can be downloaded from the Historic Engand Research Reports database.
Brewer, CW, 'Metallographic examination of medieval and post-medieval iron armour [from Farleigh Hungerford Castle]' (undated)
Bridge, M, 'Tree-ring analysis of timbers from the roof of St Anne's Chapel, Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Norton St Philip, Somerset', CfA reports 68/2002 (2002)
Bridge, M, 'Tree-ring analysis of timbers from the roof of St Leonard's Chapel, Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Norton St Philip, Somerset', CfA reports 55/2002 (2002)
Davies, J and Manning, T, 'Wall painting condition audit, Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Somerset', AML reports (new series) 60/1997 (1997)
Green, D, 'Ecological assessment of Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Somerset' (undated)
Hughes, P, 'Farleigh Hungerford Castle: visual evidence, 1700–2000' (2001)
Hughes, P, 'The chapel at Farleigh Hungerford Castle: building and repair, 1363–2003' (2003)
Joyce, N, 'St Leonard's Chapel, Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Somerset: preliminary report on roof structure' (2000)
Rodwell, KA, 'Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Somerset: an archaeological record of the fabric of the outer bailey during conservation works' (undated)
Rodwell, KA, ‘Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Somerset: report on an archaeological watching brief during stabilisation and stream bank repairs’ (undated)
Other Unpublished Sources
Kirby, JL, 'The Hungerford family in the late Middle Ages', unpublished MA dissertation (University of London, 1939)
READ MORE ABOUT FARLEIGH HUNGERFORD CASTLE
DOWNLOAD A PLAN OF FARLEIGH HUNGERFORD CASTLE
